 Close To The Edge (1972) [ larger cover art ] |
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'''I. Cord of Life'''
A man conceived a moment's answer to the dream
Staying the flowers daily, sensing all the themes
As a foundation left to create the spiral aim
A movement regained and regarded both the same
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you
Changed only for a sight of sound, the space agreed
Between the picture of time behind the face of need
Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid
Emotions revealed as the ocean maid
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you
Coins and crosses
(Turn round tailor, assaulting)
Never know their fruitless worth
(all the mornings of the interest shown,
presenting one another to the cord)
Cords are broken
(All left dying, rediscovered
Of the door that turned round)
Locked inside the mother Earth
(To close the cover, all the
interest shown)
They won't hide, hold, they won't tell you
(To turn one another, to the
sign at the time float your climb)
Watching the world, watching all of the world
Watching us go by
And you and I climb over the sea to the valley
And you and I reached out for reasons to call
'''II. Eclipse'''
Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid
Emotions revealed as the ocean maid
As a movement regained and regarded both the same
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you
'''III. The preacher, the teacher'''
Sad preacher nailed upon the coloured door of time
Insane teacher be there reminded of the rhyme
There'll be no mutant enemy we shall certify
Political ends as sad remains will die
Reach out as forward tastes begin to enter you
Oooh, ooh
I listened hard but could not see
Life tempo change out and inside me
The preacher trained in all to lose his name
The teacher travels, asking to be shown the same
In the end we'll agree, we'll accept, we'll immortalize
That the truth of man maturing in his eyes
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you
Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid
As a moment regained and regarded both the same
Emotion revealed as the ocean maid
A clearer future, morning, evening, nights with you
IV Apocalypse
And you and I climb, crossing the shapes of the morning
And you and I reach over the sun for the river
And you and I climb, clearer towards the movement
And you and I called over valleys of endless seas
| millab00 (Lancaster, Pa) | Posted: May 08, 2013 - 04:37 gjeeg wrote: October 1972. My freshman college dorm. Life was hell. Music was deliverance. This was heaven. Landmark work. Saw them live ten times. Nothing in the world like it. Growing up in the 90's it's sad to think we spend 200 dollars to go see a "show" where in 1972 I am almost positive it was much cheaper. Saw them at a free concert series in Orlando Florida. The music now a days is just pitiful and sad to think my generation is listening to that junk..... | ||
| endoman (Germany) | Posted: May 08, 2013 - 04:35 Absolut Great to hear YES on this wonderful radio station !! Greatings from Germany | ||
| black321 (A sunset in the desert) | Posted: Apr 10, 2013 - 07:21 Jon singing and lyrics always seems to have that ability to transcend. A rare gift that's easier said than done. | ||
| agd3 | Posted: Apr 07, 2013 - 00:40 Holy moly is this unbelievable...just what I needed! | ||
| oufason (35 13' / 80 50' wishing I was at 43 39' / 114 19') | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 13:03 drictor wrote: Ha! I was just getting ready to head out for a walk and clear my head but this tune came on. Cranked it up and hanging out... Wore the grooves off of this (and the others) back in the day. I'm sure all my coworkers outside my office can hear this just fine, even with my door closed. My favorite Yes song followed closely by Going For the One. | ||
| MassivRuss (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts - God Save It!) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 13:03 mmm.... 1978, vinyl, yeah....  | ||
| NoEnzLefttoSplit | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 13:02 "political ends as sad remains will die" ha, I wish. | ||
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 13:02 Red_Dragon wrote: Perhaps THE greatest song they ever recorded; and they recorded a LOT of great songs. Jeebus. Only problem with that sentence is that this is not a song. | ||
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 13:01 PSD | ||
| rdo (DC) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 13:01 Proclivities wrote: Any genre of music is capable of "taking one's mind and emotions away to another place"; simple lullabies, or even polkas can do so for some folks; fanciful complexity is not a prerequisite for extrasensory departures. There is nothing more supernatural or universally transcendant about this tune than any other tune - it comes down to a matter of personal taste. Technical prowess does not automatically translate to "good" music for everyone. I could not agree more. I'll admit I don't read a lot of music writing, but I've read enough to know I am not missing anything. None of the standard expressions, tropes, concepts, or adjectives are of any use to me when it comes to describing good music. Yes, there are terms used for musical/pedagogical shorthand (notes, styles, etc..)but there has not been a sentence yet written that can explain why something takes me to another world and another leaves me unmoved. I appreciate people who try to describe this effect, but they are wasting their time. "Complexity" in music, "texturality"...these don't mean anything to me. A great song is just great. You know it by hearing it. | ||
| drictor (Victor, ID, Cultural center of the universe!) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 12:57 Catecaneverall wrote: i'd love to leave work now but i can't as long as you're playing these wonderful songs. that's what they call a dilemma... Ha! I was just getting ready to head out for a walk and clear my head but this tune came on. Cranked it up and hanging out... Wore the grooves off of this (and the others) back in the day. | ||
| Rafter101 (Davis, California) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 12:57 I saw YES last night in San Francisco. They had a skinny, long-haired girly-boy singing in place of Jon Anderson (looked just like a 1970 Jon Anderson) and he sounded pretty good. The band was not in their best form, but did a pretty enjoyable show. It makes me wonder—-When you have most of the players replacing the original members, when do you go from being a band, to being a tribute band?? The set list was awesome—they played The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Time and a Word all the way through. Good tunes. | ||
| kingart (Brooklyn NY) | Posted: Mar 06, 2013 - 12:55 WOW. EPIC. '70s music would have been lesser with no Yes. | ||
| Propayne (Richmond VA) | Posted: Feb 03, 2013 - 06:06 nagsheadlocal wrote: Rolling down Hwy 70 to Atlantic Beach, surfboards on the Kona racks, the 8-track in my VW bug blasting this into the pre-dawn hours. Absolutely! The best way to enjoy this album for sure!! For me it was a 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7, a Pioneer Super Tuner and the Colonial Parkway. | ||
| bluedot (Long Beach, CA) | Posted: Jan 02, 2013 - 20:54 Gotta luv the Mellotron! | ||
| oldsaxon (Wales via Vancouver, BC.) | Posted: Dec 02, 2012 - 12:16 Damn! That bass is majestic | ||
| coloradojohn (A Mile High and then some, Cherry Creek, Denver) | Posted: Dec 02, 2012 - 12:13 Fabulous song. Timeless and Infinite. These guys sure did put down some truly ORCHESTRAL masterpieces over the years, didn't they? They were channeling some great stuff! Can't imagine what my life would have been without them being such a sonic foundation for me... | ||
| joelbb | Posted: Dec 02, 2012 - 12:12 Tamster wrote: Yes songs was the first of hundreds of albums I eventually bought. love this, always wish I would have seen them live. Still have the album......yup, I do ! So do I, Tam-Dog. I even know all the lyrics to this and "Close to the Edge". Tough to do w/ Yes, since the words always seem terrific, but seldom make more than just a little sense (very little). | ||
| Tamster (Thousand Islands Canada) | Posted: Sep 30, 2012 - 17:49 Yes songs was the first of hundreds of albums I eventually bought. love this, always wish I would have seen them live. Still have the album......yup, I do ! | ||
| gjeeg (Syracuse, New York) | Posted: Sep 30, 2012 - 17:47 October 1972. My freshman college dorm. Life was hell. Music was deliverance. This was heaven. Landmark work. Saw them live ten times. Nothing in the world like it. | ||
| ScottishWillie (The Scottish Lowlands) | Posted: Aug 30, 2012 - 04:56 I’m transported back 40 years to my bedroom in mum and dads house listening to this album endlessly on my Dansette. | ||
| coding_to_music (Beantown) | Posted: Aug 30, 2012 - 04:50 Eleven ! Love the bass http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_to_the_Edge_(Yes_album) | ||
| kingart (Brooklyn NY) | Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 18:47 I haven't heard this in 35+ years. Thanks, Bill. The scales fall from my ears with fond memories of my teen years in my NJ basement listening to this, Starship Troopers and other Yes tunes. What a prog rock classic. They may sound a bit pretentious today but they really tried to expand the sonic landscape. The finale on this is quite special. | ||
| Poacher (Brighton, UK) | Posted: Jun 28, 2012 - 08:08 This album and this particular track are very close to my heart. Pomp rock? Maybe. But it is still a magnificent piece of work and blew me away as a youngster and when my friends were listening to the charts, I was listening to stuff like this. No wonder I turned into a hippy. | ||
| gandalfbmg (Thankfully now a little more than 3 mi from Paradise (Missouri)) | Posted: Jun 28, 2012 - 08:07 Grrr... Argh.... | ||
| Catecaneverall | Posted: Jun 28, 2012 - 08:05 i'd love to leave work now but i can't as long as you're playing these wonderful songs. that's what they call a dilemma... | ||
| musickat (Lake of the Ozarks) | Posted: May 27, 2012 - 11:18 Proclivities wrote: Any genre of music is capable of "taking one's mind and emotions away to another place"; simple lullabies, or even polkas can do so for some folks; fanciful complexity is not a prerequisite for extrasensory departures. There is nothing more supernatural or universally transcendant about this tune than any other tune - it comes down to a matter of personal taste. Technical prowess does not automatically translate to "good" music for everyone. Yes that is true... and have you also noticed that your "mood" also affects the way the song makes you feel? I have felt like a song was a 10 one day when I heard it and on another day perhaps it only makes me feel like giving it a 8. It really has to do with how much you are feeling tuned into your inner being and what is on your mind at the time. However, a really good song can also change your mood and take you to that place that you want to be. That's the true gift of music for those of us that feel its power. | ||
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: May 27, 2012 - 11:06 Absolutely magnificent... this whole album is incredible.. love it...  | ||
| meower (is with meower) | Posted: May 27, 2012 - 11:04 oldslabsides wrote: Perhaps THE greatest song they ever recorded; and they recorded a LOT of great songs. Jeebus. agreed. | ||
| buddy | Posted: Apr 25, 2012 - 17:36 oldslabsides wrote: Perhaps THE greatest song they ever recorded; and they recorded a LOT of great songs. Jeebus. Oh hell ya! It's playing right now, the perfect song at the perfect moment today. But then, I think that every time I hear it. | ||
| Red_Dragon | Posted: Apr 05, 2012 - 18:56 Perhaps THE greatest song they ever recorded; and they recorded a LOT of great songs. Jeebus. | ||
| helgigermany (Germany) | Posted: Mar 25, 2012 - 00:40 Nice! | ||
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 08:25 bmccaul wrote: I can understand why many RP listeners are not fans of prog rock, especially 60-70s prog rock that can seem bloviated (great word btw), and I can understand how Jon Anderson's voice and Yes lyrics are not everyone's cup of tea. But the musical mastery here is amazing, and despite the bloviation, this music has the potential for taking one's mind and emotions away to another place in a way that unbloviated music cannot. Beautiful! 10! I wish I could see the band play this live just one more time... Any genre of music is capable of "taking one's mind and emotions away to another place"; simple lullabies, or even polkas can do so for some folks; fanciful complexity is not a prerequisite for extrasensory departures. There is nothing more supernatural or universally transcendant about this tune than any other tune - it comes down to a matter of personal taste. Technical prowess does not automatically translate to "good" music for everyone. | ||
| smackiepipe (Western North Carolina) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 08:12 Different strokes for different folks. That's the good thing about RP, Pharlap, there'll be something completely different on in a few minutes. Sorry this one doesn't float your boat. | ||
| Pharlap (Bahama, NC) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 08:06 as awful as I remembered it from the FM radio. There were other options for listeners then | ||
| aspicer (Chicago, IL) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 08:04 nagsheadlocal wrote: Rolling down Hwy 70 to Atlantic Beach, surfboards on the Kona racks, the 8-track in my VW bug blasting this into the pre-dawn hours. Love that image - I can totally see it! ....as a once avid sailboarder! | ||
| nagsheadlocal (North Carolina, the new New Jersey) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 08:02 Rolling down Hwy 70 to Atlantic Beach, surfboards on the Kona racks, the 8-track in my VW bug blasting this into the pre-dawn hours. | ||
| marrdcheez (Austin, planet Earth) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 07:59 Shutting my office door so I can turn it way up, cry a little, and remember those junior high school days long long ago. Miss the crackle and hiss of my turntable's needle, but otherwise all is right with the world. | ||
| smackiepipe (Western North Carolina) | Posted: Feb 22, 2012 - 07:57 Hells yeah! This takes me back to the glory days. | ||
| linzie | Posted: Dec 20, 2011 - 21:24 First time Ive heard this here....but have always liked this from Yes. Must admit, never own an album or CD from these guys, but......I likey! | ||
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Dec 20, 2011 - 21:21 Everybody in my hotel room loves this song, and this whole album... | ||
| slikr | Posted: Nov 19, 2011 - 03:26
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| jmccleary | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:29 Utilizes the widest range of frequencies - listen. | ||
| ScottFromWyoming (Powell) | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:28 Two months ago, Cynaera wrote: I was SO in the mood for Yes today - thankyouthankyouthankyou, RP!  Today, Cynaera wrote: I was SO in the mood for this! Yes seems to alter my whole perception of life (I just now realized that!) Thank you, RP. To the haters - hang in there. This, too, shall pass. And I'm really proud of the fact that I didn't add "like a kidney stone."  Felt like a stone, I tell you what.  | ||
| ScottFromWyoming (Powell) | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:26 bmccaul wrote: I can understand why many RP listeners are not fans of prog rock, especially 60-70s prog rock that can seem bloviated (great word btw), and I can understand how Jon Anderson's voice and Yes lyrics are not everyone's cup of tea. But the musical mastery here is amazing, and despite the bloviation, this music has the potential for taking one's mind and emotions away to another place in a way that unbloviated music cannot. Beautiful! 10! I wish I could see the band play this live just one more time... Nicely put. Still a 1 ;-) | ||
| drewd | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:25 I recently You Tubed these guys and got a chuckle at the old costumes they wore. Rick Wakeman was wearing a wizard cape. Oh the nostalgia...... | ||
| Cynaera (In a hammock under my own vine and fig tree.) | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:25 I was SO in the mood for this! Yes seems to alter my whole perception of life (I just now realized that!) Thank you, RP. To the haters - hang in there. This, too, shall pass. And I'm really proud of the fact that I didn't add "like a kidney stone." | ||
| bmccaul (always getting nearer to Paradise) | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:23 lemmoth wrote: Came hear to comment on this bloviation and found that.....I'd already rated it a 1...nuff said. I can understand why many RP listeners are not fans of prog rock, especially 60-70s prog rock that can seem bloviated (great word btw), and I can understand how Jon Anderson's voice and Yes lyrics are not everyone's cup of tea. But the musical mastery here is amazing, and despite the bloviation, this music has the potential for taking one's mind and emotions away to another place in a way that unbloviated music cannot. Beautiful! 10! I wish I could see the band play this live just one more time... | ||
| robh (up t'north UK) | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:22 Please make it stop | ||
| MiracleDrug (Earth) | Posted: Oct 18, 2011 - 13:21 you could never fault these guys for their flawless musicianship... brevity on the other hand  |